Up to the Task
by wildegreenlight
Summary: There are some things that Ron just can't bring to the surface.


**A/N: This was written for the Romione Fluff Fest on Tumblr.**

 **Prompt: The Common Room at Midnight**

Ron Weasley should have been fast asleep. It was nearly midnight, and he had experienced more than his share of excitement for one day. His body was exhausted beyond it's fourteen years, yet his mind would not let him rest. From where he lay in his four poster, Ron could hear the familiar sounds of his dorm mates enjoying a good night's sleep. Even Harry was snoring lightly having remained motionless since his mumbled _nox_ more than an hour ago.

 _No one deserved the rest more than Harry, that was for sure. Of course he was tired; he'd all but single-handedly saved'em all during that ruddy task today! He didn't even care about winning, he'd just wanted to save his friends._

The thought made his heart warm a little with pride for his best friend. He really was a good mate. For a moment he felt a whisper of shame for the way he reacted when Harry's name had come out of the goblet. He should've known that Harry'd never intentionally seek glory. It really wasn't his style. Even his spot on the Quidditch team had come from his standing up for Neville.

He guessed he just took it for granted; sure he grumbled and complained about it sometimes, but he really was lucky to have such a great, big family. He couldn't imagine not having them to count on. He knew, in an abstract way, that Harry didn't have a proper family, _don't think I've ever seen Dad more furious than he was at those Dursleys_ , but to know that he was the person that Harry would miss most...that was a little overwhelming.

It changed things a little, didn't it? It was a lot of responsibility. Not that he hadn't already taken that responsibility on, come to think of it. He didn't remember making a conscious choice to do so, but he reckoned breaking him out with a flying car in second year had really sealed his fate. Ron knew, without a doubt, that Harry was more than just his friend, he was part of his family. Family meant you looked out for each other, and sure, you might want to hex them into oblivion sometimes, but you always had their back.

As he thought about his family, Ron began to wonder: if the roles had been reversed, who would he have found in that lake? He'd like to think that it would have been Harry, if nothing else, that'd be fair. A little part of his mind felt guilty that it might not be someone in his "real" family. Would he have been as frantic with worry about Ginny as Fleur had been about her little sister? And even though he still felt partially to blame for what had happened to her during her first year, he still wasn't fully convinced that she'd be the person he missed most.

That really left Harry as the most obvious choice. They were best friends; they spent everyday together. Ron felt a thought crawling toward him, one that he'd been trying to dodge: there was someone else that he spent every day with, someone who was also his best friend. He didn't like where this was going. Not because he couldn't accept the fact that he'd want to save her, of course he'd save her. That had been established when he knocked out a troll, and burped slugs, and faced giant spiders, and stood up to a dangerous maniac. It made him uncomfortable because he had to accept the fact that she was someone else's to save.

The thought lay in his gut like a plate of Hagrid's biscuits. It made him want to punch that Bulgarian git in the face; _he might know more about bloody Quidditch but he doesn't know a thing about Hermione!_ After their big row at the Yule Ball, they had come to a sort of unspoken agreement to give the entire issue a wide berth. Neither of them had spoken of it again, and until today he hadn't even seen the two of them together. He guessed he should be thankful that he'd been unconscious; he didn't even want to think about the nightmares he would've had if he'd seen that slimy wanker swimming toward her, with or without his stupid shark head! It'd been bad enough that he'd had to see him fawning all over her afterwards. At least he had Fleur's thankfulness to distract him.

He threw his blankets back in frustration. _Ugh! I'm never gonna get to sleep like this!_ Deciding to take a stab at finding a random chess opponent or a house elf with snacks. Ron slipped a jumper over his pyjamas and headed for the common room. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he froze: sitting on the sofa with an open book in her lap was the very person he had been trying very hard not to think about, Hermione.

For a split second he considered turning quickly and bolting up the stairs, but something in the way she was staring at the pages made him pause. It was obvious, at least to him, that she was not reading. When Hermione read she cocked her head slightly, very slightly, to the left and moved her eyes very quickly over the page, if you paid attention you could see them move over each word. Not now. Her head was not tilted in either direction and she stared down into the book with no movement at all. If she wasn't reading, which obviously she wasn't, what was she doing? His curiosity outweighed the possible awkwardness, so he stepped closer.

"Looking for a spell to remove the sweet smell of Giant Squid?" she startled at his words, but he was relieved to see her small smile of recognition.

"No," she pulled a large lock of hair to her nose and inhaled, "but maybe I should, I hate to think of all the disgusting things living in that water." They both laughed breaking the tension of the moment, and she motioned for him to sit down.

"Sure? Not bothering you am I?"

"Not at all," she pulled her knees up, trapping the open book between her legs and her chest. "I just couldn't sleep, so I decided to come read for a bit. How about you?"

"Same...well 'cept for the reading part."

He sat down on the sofa, not quite beside her, but not as far as the opposite end. Considering the thoughts that had brought him down here, he should have felt awkward, but for some strange reason he didn't. It really was a bit baffling to him that when it was just the two of them, they seemed to get along brilliantly.

"Speaking of...whatcha reading?"

"Oh, nothing really, Professor McGonnagal recommended it, so I thought I would enjoy it, but honestly, I just cannot seem to get into it."

Ron gave himself a mental pat on the back, he knew she hadn't been reading! "Lemme guess... _300 Simple Steps to Becoming Head Girl_? No wait… _Cats and the Totally Mental Witches Who Love Them_?"

Hermione kicked at him, pushing his knee with her foot which caused the book to slip to the floor. They both leaned over to grab it at the same time, bumping foreheads in the process. Ron made a dramatic yelp causing her to scold, "I swear, if you make a crack about how hard my head is, I will throw you back in that lake!"

At his pantomime of innocence, they both broke out in a fresh wave of laughter. This was how it was supposed to be. Easy. No hairy Bulgarian apes causing problems. Just a couple of best friends laughing together in their pyjamas...in the common room...at midnight...all alone. Suddenly he he did feel nervous. Maybe this was a bad idea.

"We should probably get to bed," he prayed that his voice wasn't as shaky as it sounded in his own head.

Hermione heaved a sigh, "I know, we've both had long day," he nodded in agreement, "but I can't stop thinking about...about."

"About what?" _Way to go Weasley! This is exactly what you didn't want to do!_

"The thing you'd miss most," her voice came out softer than he thought he'd ever heard it, and from the look on her face it was almost like she couldn't believe she had said it aloud.

 _Fuck!_

"Uh...me?"

"Well...yeah...not just you...me too...I mean...in general...you know?" She looked at him so earnestly that he could not deny her.

"Yeah...I do. Actually why I couldn't sleep," he decided to tell the truth, well, at least something that was adjacent to the truth. "I mean...I worry about Harry...I forget sometimes that we're the closest thing to family he's got."

"I know, me too. I thought it was both of us, at first, today, in Dumbledore's office," she looked off to the side, toward the fire, and he could see the color rise in her cheeks.

"Me too."

"Of course, I know that was probably ridiculous."

"No it wasn't!" _Not as bloody ridiculous as being the thing Krum would miss most when he's only known you for a few months!_ "And anyway,what about Cedric and Cho? I think that got Harry a little...he didn't think they were that serious."

"Well her being his choice doesn't necessarily mean that it _is_ that serious."

"Sounds pretty serious to me," he recognized the dangerous path he was on, but he honestly, could not stop himself from taking the next step, "Sounds like Cedric cares about her a whole lot."

"That may be true," she looked up then, and he hoped to Merlin she didn't notice his quick intake of breath at the sight of her expression _,_ "but it doesn't mean that she feels the same way, does it? I mean...well, she might have someone else that she would miss more." She was giving him a look he recognized, the one she sometimes used when she tried to help Neville remember where he left something. A look that she had been known to give Ron when she was trying to get him to figure out a revision without her just giving him the answer.

"Never thought about it that way." Alarms were all but sounding in his head: something horribly wonderful was rising to the surface, something that he was in no way prepared to face. Ron took the only out he could see, he reached a little blindly for his trusty humor life-preserver and prayed it would carry him to shore. "That would be a little awkward, yeah? Like...Hey, I know I'm the person you'd miss most and all, but the thing is, I'd really miss someone else more...hope you don't mind."

He was more than relieved to find Hermione snickering at his comment.

"What if it wasn't even another person," she gave him a conspiratorial grin, "I mean it did say the thing you'd miss most."

"That'd be great: you swim down to the bottom of the lake and all you find is a soggy bacon sandwich!"

"That would be yours for sure!"

"Oi! It would not! I'd have you to know that it would be TWO soggy bacon sandwiches!"

"Of course! How could I have been so wrong?"

"Better than yours! Yours'd probably just be a copy of Hogwarts a History."

She crossed her arms and grumbled dramatically, "It's like you don't know me at all!"

"Is that so? Well I know that you think that it'd be Crookshanks, but it wouldn't."

"Alright then, if you're so smart, why don't you tell me what it would be?"

Ron shook his head, a wide grin plastered over his now very sleepy face. "Nah...what would be the fun in that?"

Fighting back a yawn, Hermione gloated, "as usual, the fun would be in proving you wrong."

"Yeah...how 'bout we leave that for another time? I think we both need to get some sleep. No telling what Harry'll need for us to do tomorrow. Maybe break into the Ministry? Fight a pack of giants...ya know...something easy."

"Still better than sitting through Divination," her deadpan sarcasm sounded so much like Ron that they were both shocked, but recovered after a beat.

Ron cleared his throat and offered his best Trelawny impression, "It is time! Time to close your mind's eye! The time for sleep is at hand!"

Through a fit of restrained giggles, Hermione picked up her discarded book and followed Ron to the staircase.

"G'night."

"Good night." Before he had made it to the third step, she called after him, "Ron?"

He turned to look back at her, "Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"For what?" He really had no idea what she could be thanking him for.

"For...well, for just understanding," she turned and dashed up the stairs before he could reply.

But, in that moment, he did understand. There were so many confusing things that he was going through: with school, with his family, with Harry, with Hermione, but he knew that if there was anyone in the world that knew what it was like, what was on his mind, it was her. He also knew, although he couldn't quite admit it to himself yet, if the task had been his, exactly who he would have found waiting for him at the bottom of that lake.


End file.
